Chiefs duo help Scotland to victory
By Mark Stevens
19/11/22
Exeter Chiefs duo Stuart Hogg and Jonny Gray helped Scotland finish their Autumn series with victory over ill-disciplined Argentina in a stormy contest at BT Murrayfield.
Argentina were undone by Marcos Kremer’s red card after just 21 minutes when 8-7 in front and three more yellow cards in the second half. Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie was also sent to the sin bin after a second-half brawl between the two sets of players.
By that point, Scotland led 31-22 as the outstanding Russell’s creativity opened up the Argentine defence for Duhan van der Merwe to put the hosts in front before Darcy Graham crossed twice either side of half-time.
Argentina were reduced to 12 men for just short of 10 minutes due to quickfire yellow cards for Matias Alemanno and Tomas Lavanini.
But remarkably it was Michael Cheika’s side who struck with a three-man disadvantage when Emiliano Boffelli ran in a breakaway try under the posts.
Scotland regained their composure for Sione Tuipulotu to score his second try before Cameron Redpath, Hogg and Darcy with his third of the afternoon rubbed salt into Argentine wounds.
Head coach Gregor Townsend admits Finn Russell is now the man “in possession” of Scotland’s No.10 jersey going into the Guinness Six Nations.
The Racing 92 stand-off was controversially omitted from the initial squad named last month for the autumn series, with the head coach raising concerns about his “form and consistency” at club level.
After impressing against the All Blacks, the 30-year-old was the man at the heart of Scotland’s eight-try triumph over the Pumas as he firmly re-established himself as Scotland’s main option at fly-half.
“Yes, he’s now the man in possession,” said Townsend. “Finn’s played really well the last two weeks and it will take something (special) from Blair and Adam to change that.”
Asked about Russell’s display, Townsend said: “He was very good. There are parts to his game that maybe don’t get talked about a huge amount.
“I said to him in the changing room he had three tackles in a row in the first half, so he showed his competitiveness there. He’s got a very good carrying game and his offloads created really good line-breaks.
“His little kick-through in the second half was the right thing to do and created a try for Cam Redpath. His passing skills are up there with the best in the world.
“Maybe we expect those great passes, but they led to some really good opportunities. It was a very good display.”
Townsend was pleased to see his team end their autumn series with a high-scoring win over the Pumas after an unconvincing victory over Fiji was sandwiched by agonising defeats at the hands of Australia and New Zealand in the previous Tests.
“We would have taken that before the match,” he said of the scoreline. “When they scored right before half-time we knew it was going to be a tricky second half, but I’m delighted with the way the players adapted to certain situations.
“What we did in attack and defence had a big effect on Argentina and I loved the energy in the last 10 minutes.”